relocated

spent the last two consecutive

sunday afternoons/early evenings

sorting

stacking

storing

moving

relocating

my sewing space

when we moved in

we set my sewing space up in the same room as our 'study'

while i love having the computer right there as a resource

its tricky as i do tend to take over 

& apparently my husband would like to have his own desk!? huh?

so apart from the fact that more than half of the 'new' sewing room

is still a storage locker for all the arty stuff that will hopefully one day move into a studio

yep - you heard right i 'need' a sewing room & a studio!

well this afternoon i used said janome in the new space & its working nicely

the space that is .... my janome needs a service!!

so i have a deadline this week

blog worthy photos of my SIT swap items

they will be ready!

as I made a start & got halfway!!

i'll tell you more about these when i'm finished ... soon!

so essentially 2 works in progress today

joining in 'freshly pieced' WIP Wednesday

NB- fabric stash you can see .... not even a 1/4 of it ... will need to be relocated

another time ....

four candles on a castle cake!

so the little man in our house

turned 4 on saturday

still can't believe he is even ours

& we love him so very much

celebrated with a party theme of

castles

knights

& dragons

the noble princesses, knights & squires whom
he 'plays with' joined our celebratory crusade

courtly attire was requested

the champions prepared

the banners were sewn & hung ... 7 of them!
the bunting flags were flying inside & out
the tournament was arranged

there was knightly quest for great treasure

trumpets heralded
crowns were decorated

 shields were created & foil covered
musical 'thrones' was played
(& no one missed out!)
we didn't have a round table but
we did play with a round parachute!
ring a ring a rosie was danced!
(after all its supposed to be about the black plague hey!)

&

the celebration banquet feast was prepared

including ginger bread crowns
decorated by the princely dragon himself
& little shields in the red & white of St George!

 one little dragon was 

very

very

excited ....
a castle cake was requested

& so it was done

loved making it

 components .... many many tim tams

malteasers, two types of chocolate cakes

a gingerbread draw bridge

icey blue jelly, 16 lego mini figures knights

& one green dragon

 his dragon costume

hoodie idea found somewhere on google images

can't find the original blog i spotted it on

but have since seen many versions

my variation was to lightly stuff

the spikes

&

this awesome dino tail pattern

by Jessica

love it so much

knew the moment i set my eyes on it

i had to make one ...

wish we had the snow to pose in!!

which i've again made a variation on

... stuffing the spikes ...

& now of course it is completely 

a dragon's tail hey!

we missed you Roma & KPa
but glad you were doing castle-y things too!

did you see the Happy Birthday Oscar
banner ?? I made this for his first birthday
& each year I make the appropriate number tag to insert!
had to use some of the fabric from his dragon costume for the 4th!

giveaway with sew mama sew

 joining in with sew, mama, sew's

may giveaway day - which now runs for a whole week!

i haven't done a giveaway for ages

so its about time

& i love checking out all the other goodies

creative minds come up with

crossing my fingers i might have some good fortune too!

here's a sweet A5 sized fabric covered notebook

with a crochet circle embellishment on the front cover

all made by me ... i have more....

this giveaway is open for Australian residents only

so sorry no OS shipping on this one

(worldwide one is below .... keep reading)

just leave me a comment saying "notebook"

& an idea of what you'd use it for

a random comment will receive this 

one of a kind treasure

 this is a very cute set of 12 mini sized

bunting flags with an elephant print

just the right length to run along a window or wall to decorate 

a child's bedroom either gender

made by me of course!

just leave me a comment saying "bunting"

& where you'd hang these cuties

welcome to anyone from anywhere worldwide

so yep i will ship this gift internationally
winner will be randomly chosen

Aussies - you are more than welcome to enter both giveaways!!

lots more giveaways to join in over here 

edit - comments are now closed!

winner will be drawn soon ... 

thanks for playing

its been great to meet you!!

setting up

so above & below

pics from my 'in house' market viewing eve

set up in my living room

enjoyed the luxury of having 4 stands set up & spreading out!

also Sat just gone... T&T@Trinity

loving the support people are giving me

come a long way in the last nearly 12 months

of going about some markets

the handmade scene is close to my heart

little peaces went to market

last few weeks

i've been to market with my goodies

range has now expanded to include

little brag book fabric covered photo albums

more covered notebooks with modern fabrics

travel tissue pouches

more to come soon too!

Treasures & Tastes @ Trinity on April 21

my goodies center knee height shelving  

Canterbury PS Gift Shop

Annual Art Show

last weekend

& this weekend

at the East Doncaster Baptist Church

Craft Market

i've been asked about joining in a couple of interesting crafty ventures

.... June last year was my first true handmade market

here i am almost a year later

i've learned lots & think i've got something good a happening

thanks for all your support!

see other market dates in the right margin

thoughts

i've heard this mentioned in different contexts over time

i like it

it makes sense to me

be kind to yourself & mind your soul ...

live with integrity

 

“Mind your thoughts, 

for they become your words.

Mind your words, 

for they become your actions.

Mind your actions, 

for they become your habits.

Mind your habits, 

for they become your character.

Mind your character, 

for it becomes your destiny.”

 

not sure who wrote it or where it came from

celebrate the oops!

thankyou Barney Saltzberg

new 'art of illustrators' over at 

littlesmARTys

because a scrap of paper

a smudge and a smear

can make magic appear

loving it ...

i can knit!

 sat with a great group of crafty girls the other eve

i was the exception to the yarn rule

as they were all using yarn in some way

ripple crochet blanketing

learning to knit a scarf

an elaborate jumper

a gorgeous blissful pretty pink dress

funky beanies

& there i was sewing ...

it got me thinking about some unfinished knitting projects

i learnt how to knit a long time ago

my mum taught me ... my first project was a bright

red, blue, yellow & green chunky striped

jumper for my snoopy!

made in one piece with the rows running vertically

& sewn together under the arms etc

not sure how old i was but i was in primary school

added a few stitches as i went so it was a little curvy!

... it has 'character'!

still does as i still have it!

now & then over the past 4 years

i have made Oscar a few things

above is one project i pulled out when i got home on the other night!

its been in limbo with the back half made for a year or so ....

.... thought it was too small but no ...

sizing will be good!

so i got on to the yarn wagon again

& have made some progress

back is finished & the front started

will be a simple v neck jumper

& yes, i need a pattern for this!

other stuff i make up but not knitting ....
so joining in here
since this is a work in progress

here's Oscar in a little bamboo vest

again a V neck!

i loved this on him

 below is a pic my 2 boys

riding the little train in Eltham that runs on Sunday afternoons

we still love that train

this was our first ride

i sat backwards & took photos!!

Oscar in his purple jumper

("purple" Oscar)

think he's about 2 months off turning 2 here

had raglan sleeves with a little roll neck

i made a soft green one too but it is still too 

large & is yet to be worn

 my nanna & my mum

were both great knitters

nanna was knitting right up to her last days

this is Oscar in a specially treasured

little cardigan jacket made by her

she was gone before she knew we were to even have

our baby boy but i figure she'd be wrapped to have

given him a cuddle in this!

so as an ode to the generations of knitters before us

keeping on with tradition

... knit, purl, cast on, cast off!

enJOY your journey
.... added edit:

here i am ...
wearing something that my nanna must have knitted!!
40 years ago ...

markings in the sand

 

 spent 24 hours at a beach hideaway 

which is fast becoming

a favourite spot

went for a crisp wintry walk along

the Ocean Grove Surf Beach

rugged up

got to love it when you nearly have the beach all to yourselves

that chilled cheeks feeling

perfect conditions for gum boots

watched the kite surfer

avoided the weird looking little blue jelly fish all along the water's edge

&

went spotting marks & footprints 

in the sand

there were parallel lines

hmm what could they be?

doggy foot prints

in varying sizes

weird flipper shapes

 & then the nearly 4 year old

'needed' i quote

to dig ... 

the whole sand under finger nails type of digging

was a lovely time

lucky we have 

antarctic weather conditions coats at our convenience!

thrifty finds

you know by now

i have a great love for all

things made of clay

if you've never really squished your fingers through clay

... then  you must!

our tactile sense is often ignored & really

it is just as important to enrich as the others ...

some finds ...

 clay made with a quirky, organic approach to 

being useful as well as lovely to look at & to hold

i like things a little left of centre ...

the tea pot below was not a thrifty find

(cherished treasure brought home from japan)

but hey the little cup & saucer goes so nicely with it

& 

some books

classics ...

nothing like a little Dr Seuss in life

favourite about this place at the moment

& a reference book from my past

as i flicked through the pages when i picked this one up the other day

the images were as familiar as they were when i was 7!

oh & a few pieces of 'someones' favourite 

mikasa set ... always on the look out!

joining in with the 

Haby Goddess'

Make : Grow : Thrift

new blog about the Playful Market

last year a few friends & i made a little market/fair happen

with the help of our Church family

it's happening again

& i'm now in organization mode

Saturday 28th July

& 

Saturday 8th December

& I'm really excited

i've just created a Playful Market blog 

so you can follow along over there

but it will probably still be mentioned here too

if you went last year

can you do me a favour

go over there

& write a little note about what it was like

ta